The École des Hautes Études Commerciales du Nord, commonly known as EDHEC Business School or simply EDHEC, is a French

business school A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

and ''

grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

'' founded in 1906. It has campuses in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionEQUIS, AACSB and AMBA (

triple accreditation Triple accreditation (also known as the triple crown) refers to a business school being accredited by all three leading international accreditation organizations: the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in the US, the ...

). In 2019, EDHEC had 8,600 students enrolled in traditional graduate and undergraduate programmes, 245 exchange and double-degree agreements, and an alumni network of more than 40,000 members across 125 countries.

History

EDHEC Business School was founded in

in 1906 by industrialists from northern France. Initially established as a commercial section within the ''École des Hautes Études Industrielles (HEI)'', the school was created with the objective of addressing the commercial and industrial needs of northern France. Its founding occurred in the context of the broader

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

that transformed northern France in the 19th century. Between 1850 and 1914,

and its neighbouring cities became major industrial and financial centres, prompting regional elites to seek ways to prepare their children and future professionals for business careers, ultimately leading to the creation of EDHEC. In 1921, the commercial section was integrated into the ''Faculté Libre de Droit'', becoming known as ''HEC Nord'' (). However, following a legal dispute with

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

over the use of the name, the institution was renamed EDHEC () in 1951. The school received state accreditation in 1971. The alumni association, initially founded in 1947 as the ''Amicale de l'EDHEC du Nord'', eventually became the ''Association des Diplômés EDHEC''. This organization has played a key role in fostering connections among graduates and supporting the school's community. Since 1953, the association has published a bulletin titled ''Quo Vadis'' and later renamed ''EDHEC Informations''. Edhec Business School Manor building

In the early 2000s, the school initiated a strategic repositioning around a limited number of specialised fields. Finance was designated as a primary focus, leading to the creation of the EDHEC Risk Institute with the aim of producing research that could be commercialised and sold to the financial industry. Despite internal opposition, this initiative gained traction, and financial research now represents an important part of the school’s revenue..

Academics

EDHEC Business School is a

Grande école A (; ) is a specialized top-level educational institution in France and some other countries such as Morocco and Tunisia. are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream List of public universities in Franc ...

, a type of French

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution that operates independently from the public university system, though it often maintains connections with it. Similar to

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

schools in the United States,

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

in the UK, and C9 League in China, graduation from a Grande école is considered the prerequisite credential for any top government, administrative and corporate position in France. Monique de Saint-Martin, « Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles : de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21),
lire en ligne
sur Cairn.infoValérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq
Les inégalités sociales d’accès aux grandes écoles
(2003), INSEE

Programmes

EDHEC offers a Master in Management, also known as the ''Programme Grande École'', along with several Master of Science (MSc) and Bachelor's degrees, MBA programmes, and a PhD in Finance.

Rankings

European Business Schools *''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' - European Business School Rankings 2024: 7 Master in Management (Programme Grande École) *''

'' - Global Ranking 2024: 4 Master in Finance *''

'' - Global Ranking 2024: 6 Master in Marketing *''

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

'' - Global Ranking 2025: 10 MBA *''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' - European Ranking 2023/2024: 13

Research

EDHEC Business School conducts academic research with a faculty of over 175 members. The school allocates approximately 20% of its budget to research. The school's research framework includes 13 centers and chairs, which collectively produce over 100 academic articles each year. These contributions cover a wide range of topics in business and finance. In 2023, EDHEC sold 93% of its subsidiary, Scientific Beta, to the

Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX Group) is a Singapore-based exchange conglomerate, operating Equity (finance), equity, fixed income, currency and commodity markets. It provides a range of listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and ...

. Valued at €200 million and established in 2012, Scientific Beta focuses on alternative index design. It has developed a global client base, including pension funds and asset managers. The proceeds from this sale were used to finance EDHEC's research projects, including the development of a database for infrastructure investments and a fintech initiative evaluating the financial, social, and environmental risks of long-term investments.

Campus

The main campus in

is set within a 21-acre park, part of a 49-acre estate formerly owned by Eugène Motte-Duthoit (1860-1932), a prominent textile industrialist and political figure in Roubaix. In the 1980s,

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

acquired the property and established its headquarters on the site. It was later occupied by the bank

Groupe Caisse d'Épargne Groupe Caisse d'épargne (, ) was a group of French savings banks that were converted into cooperative banks by legislation enacted in 1999. Its roots went back to the founding in 1818 of the , initiated by Benjamin Delessert and the Duke of La ...

, before being purchased by EDHEC Business School, which relocated its campus from Lille’s Vauban district in 2010. The ground features century-old trees and includes a manor built in 1924, designed by the architect Jacques Gréber. Located near the main campus, the Jean Arnault campus is named after Bernard Arnault’s father and serves both as a training centre and incubator. Donated by the Arnault family in 2021, it occupies the former family home of Bernard Arnault’s parents. The Nice campus, inaugurated in 1991, is located by the seaside at the end of the Promenade des Anglais. It was the second campus established by EDHEC Business School. EDHEC Business School established a presence in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 2010, at the invitation of the Singaporean government which sought to integrate the school into an academic cluster focused on finance in the region. The

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

campus houses the PhD in Finance programme, and, along with the Singapore campus, hosts the school’s research centres. The

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

campus was inaugurated in 2012 and is located in the Opéra business district. It occupies part of Le Centorial, a historic building constructed in 1895, which once served as the headquarters of the bank Crédit Lyonnais. The building is listed as a historic monument. EDHEC’s startup incubator is located at Station F, a large startup campus in the

13th arrondissement of Paris The 13th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris. In spoken French, the arrondissement is referred to as ''le treizième'' ("the thirteenth"). The arrondissement is ...

Student life

EDHEC has over 100 student societies in areas such as sports, humanitarian work, arts, finance, and business services. The EDHEC Sailing Cup is an annual event organised by students. First initiated in 1969 by three students, the event consists of an annual sailing regatta. By 1980, it had become the largest student sporting event in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The event features a series of sport competitions and attracts participants from business, engineering, and medical schools, both from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and from abroad.

Notable alumni

Business

Delphine Arnault Delphine Caroline Marie Arnault (; born 4 April 1975) is a French businesswoman who has been serving as the chairperson and chief executive officer of Dior, Christian Dior Couture since February 2023. Arnault is the daughter of Bernard Arnault. ...

, CEO and Chairman of Dior * Laurent Freixe, CEO of

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

* Michael Burke, CEO of

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...

Fashion Group, former CEO of Bulgari,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

, and

Fendi Fendi Srl () is an Culture of Italy, Italian luxury goods, luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925 by fashion designers Edoardo Fendi and ...

* Sophie Bellon, CEO and Chairman of

Sodexo Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 522,000 employees as of 2023, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...

* Christophe Bonduelle, CEO and Chairman of Bonduelle * Marie Guillemot, CEO of

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

France * Christian Meunier, Chairman of

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Americas, former CEO of

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

* Marlène Dolveck, Executive Vice President at CMA CGM, former CEO of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

Gares & Connexions * Virginie Courtin, CEO of Clarins * Philippe Léopold-Metzger, former CEO of Piaget SA and Cartier (UK and Asia Pacific) * Christian Polge, former CEO of

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

France and Canada * Brigitte Cantaloube, former CEO of

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

France

Politics

* Daniel Kablan Duncan, former Vice President and

Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire This article lists the heads of government of Ivory Coast, officially the Ivory Coast, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, since the country gained independence from France in 1960. The current prime minister is Robert Beugré Mambé since 17 October 2 ...

* Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister delegate for Foreign Trade and French Living Abroad * Éric Doligé, French politician * Pierre-Jean Verzelen, French politician * David Belliard, French politician * Julien Anfruns, former Director General of the

International Council of Museums The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to museums, maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Founded in 1946, ...

(ICOM) and judge of the French Supreme Court (Conseil d'État)

Others

* Yves Navarre, French writer and founder of the ''Syndicat des écrivains de langue française'' (Union of French-speaking Writers) *

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a retired French singer-songwriter and record producer whose work remains hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017, he has been the highest-grossing ...

, French singer * Manon Brunet, Olympic medalist in

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

* Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces,

viticulturist Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

and Managing Director of Château d'Yquem * Charlotte Dauphin, French filmmaker * Michaël Boumendil, French composer * Jean-Marc Dreyfus, historian

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edhec, Ecole Des Hautes Etudes Commerciales Du Nord Grandes écoles Business schools in France Universities and colleges established in 1906 1906 establishments in France Lille